What you should do before visiting the emergency room in Kamloops

Dec 18, 2018 | 12:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — A milder winter has resulted in fewer emergency room visits at Royal Inland Hospital. But the head of the ER in Kamloops says it can quickly shift if and when the temperatures dip before Christmas. 

“We usually start getting a surge around this time as the colder weather moves in,” notes Dr. Henk Van Zyl. “We’ve had more colds and flus. People returning, a lot of people travelling this time of the year, so a little bit of an uptake but not as heavy as before. Our wait times are getting a little longer, though.”

With many family doctors closing their practices over the holidays, Dr. Van Zyl says people feeling ill may be inclined to go to the ER, even when the visit isn’t necessary. 

“The biggest problem we have with that is we’d like to help people as quickly as possible, and therefore if people use the resources inappropriately, if you want to call it, then the wait times do increase and sometimes people don’t understand that,” he says. 

Dr. Van Zyl say if you have a cold or flu, wait a couple of days before coming in. He reminds people that patients are triaged, with the worst cases being treated first, and someone with a cold or flu could worsen their health by coming to emergency and exposing themselves to hospital germs. 

“Unfortunately, if it’s a smaller complaint in the context of what we see here every day, then your wait time will be long, so we try to encourage people to use their family practioners or the urgent care centres, or other resources instead of coming to the emergency department if it’s a smaller complaint.”

Local pharmacist Missagh Manshadi says anyone fighting a cold or flu should visit a pharmacy, where staff can then recommend next steps in your recovery. 

“Ask a pharmacist to help you to find out if it is something you need to go see a doctor or you can use the over-the-counter medication and help your self,” he says. 

Manshadi says cold and flu remedies are merely for comfort. At the end of the day, though, ER doctors say beyond the obvious things like a stroke or heart attack, people should reach out first to the nurses hotline through HealthLink BC.

“If you could phone 8-1-1, there’s a nurse on the other end of the line that can help you with screening, whether it’s appropriate to come or not. If there are concerns, we always want people to come and be assessed,” says Dr. Van Zyl.